Hero's Harem Guild Anniversary | Reworks, Experience and Prologue. (Patreon)

Today is the anniversary of HHG! v0.0.1 was updated on December 15th, 2019.

Hero's Harem Guild v0.0.1 dropped exactly a year ago, and it looked like this:

For those who don't know, I started programming the same day I started HHG, so, yeah. The game had some big problems.

Here some random screenshots/images/videos of V0.0.1, you'll understand.

Depending on your actions, you get different points.

The girls' deck, or "girl's cards."

Inside them, there was pretty... Unclear information about the girl. You were meant to play and adjust how the girls behave to you depending on how much affection/corruption/love you get. That was the initial idea and the "sandbox" side of the game.

You also had... different outfits? I don't even know why the hell I made this; it wasn't even that simple, but it looked like "Yes, I can make outfits simple and easy!" back then.

This was the quests window.
Can you believe that I used IMAGES as texts instead of... texts?

Yes, this was the level of professionalism and skill that I had in "programming" and "making games."

Ari. You were able to "corrupt" her.

The inventory was able to hold only 3 "key" items. Not optional items, not fish, not ores, nothing.

(First logo I made for HHG as a placeholder)

In my head, the game was meant to be some sandbox RPG with "choices that can change the world you live in!" etc.

I remember doing this first update in one month and 4 days. That's pretty fast, right? Yes, it's extremely fast if you make a game that is hard to add stuff, hard not to break saves, hard to make fixes, and hard to develop.

I mean, I could have easily keep going with the same system over and over again and just adding events. That doesn't need that much attention; the updates could have been pretty fast, too. The problem is when adding a completely new system for the game, a mini-game, or any other thing I want to add. And let's not trick ourselves; that's what makes Hero's Harem Guild; Hero's Harem Guild. The game wouldn't be the same if it were just events all day, without any gameplay. And even more, knowing the world in which the player has gotten into.

The game was buggy, it had even more Spanglish than now, it didn't look good, the only way to get money was sending girls to work and wait until they come the next day, the navigation was confusing, and the story was... weird. 

But people liked it.

I started to understand how Ren'py works; I started learning and practicing programming and seeing what I wanted HHG to be. I knew most people liked HHG for its "RPG-LIKE/Fantasy/Medieval" theme, so I stuck with that.

In the original version of HHG (v0.0.1), you were meant to choose the right answers and, depending on your playstyle; you'll see different scenes. That was my definition of "Sandbox." Of course, I wouldn't say I liked it.

Reworks

From v0.0.1 to v0.1.0, there was a "rework."  The game made a BIG jump. This was the sneak-peek post: HERE. 

I re-made the tutorial completely (Before the Hero falls from the cliff) to have better quality. The card's interior had a complete change, new market, fishing "mechanic," and the complete removal of the old "Sandbox" gameplay.

I decided that Hero's Harem Guild will be a game where you can see ALL SCENES with no choices at all. The choices you make change the order whenever you see them. A game where you have a lot of optional stuff to do and be rewarded for it. Where that optional stuff CHANGES the world, the MC lives in, instead of your choices.

I think this is the best way to do it. Delilah is a good example.
Granny is the gardener in town; she thinks Sealed Town needs young people working on it instead of older people for the town to prosper.
If you never meet Delilah, you can beat the game with Granny being the gardener of the town, but things change if you meet Delilah and complete her quest;

She will be the gardener instead of Granny. And she will become a part of Sealed Town.

This, besides giving you some spicy and hot as fuck scenes,  will help you. At the same time you discover and play throughout the main story-line, she will be able to join the guild once she reaches level 5 and expands her catalog of selling/crafting items while the main story-line requires so.

I understand the player can't change the main story. There are no choices. You're just a spectator in this story. 

But I understand the player wants to feel part of the world. Imagine being dropped in a game where you're the Hero of an unknown outside world where you don't know anything about it... AND YOU HAVE TO FISH AND ONLY FISH TO GET MONEY!? That's a no-no. I want the player to feel like a guy who is a "Hero" in an unknown world and be able to do various activities to progress on it, depending on their playstyle. Like now, the only ones are Foraging, Fishing, Guild Board, and Mining, and more will be added, remember it.

That's why alternatives are important for HHG.

Alternatives

Yes, it's good to have optional content, but it's good to get an alternative way to do stuff when you have to get something, like money. Before, the only way to get money was fishing, and people complained about it. Today, HHG has some extra alternatives for you to get money and progress, and I plan to add some more.

The same with the way the player gets affection. At the start, it was just "spending time," and now, it's spending time and talk options. I'll probably expand this with quick missions (Randomly generated missions that girls ask you to do, if you do, you get affection) or the simplest of all; gifts.

Of course, this will take a lot of time to balance, but I can do that. I don't mind if the game feels easy/not-grindy. So I'm okay with it. In the end, HHG is a point and click game, technically. With some weird but at least I think "Funny" minigames.

 I'll try my best to bring new types of minigames, or at least some entertaining ones.
Like procedurally generated dungeons where you get to explore the mysterious caves Sealed Town has, and along with Narissa, find chests to lockpick, monsters to battl...- scare, new ores to mine, underground ponds to fish, exotic things to forage, and the most exciting feature, the caves changes every couple of days! 

But of course, that was an example. It won't happen in v0.1.3...
......

...........

Let's get back to the topic: reworks.

If HHG weren't public and I could work on the project alone, I'm 100% sure I would have started another rework. (NO, DON'T WORRY, I WON'T REWORK THE GAME AGAIN!)

"Why?" You would ask.
"The game is fun as it is!" you would say.

Yes, I'm aware people love Hero's Harem Guild. The amount of support I'm getting is INSANE.

But I'm still learning. And that's the problem. Remember that I said I started programming the same day I started HHG?

Every day I learn something new, something that helps me develop HHG. I want to make HHG the best game possible if I find an opportunity... If I find a better way to do stuff, upgrade the FPS, make a better minigame, or make people download the game more easily... I will take it. 

Again, I don't think I'll rework the game ever again. Mostly because, after starting v0.1.3, that would be a lot of work and months to do. So no-no, I'll stick with my current stuff for a while. But, I'm 100% sure you'll see reworks of Shops, GUI, Fishing, or even the Guild Board, again.

Not enough to break your save, but enough to be called rework! Just remember HHG is a baby. The final product will look different!

Now, let's stop shitting on my past bad decisions, and let's talk about where the game is right now.

The prologue. People liked the prologue! And I'm so happy about it! At the start, I didn't think people would care about the story (Because... you know, H game.), but I decided to give it a try; I'm so freaking glad and happy that it worked out well.

The prologue it's finished. What I'm trying to say is no other girls will be added to be obtainable during the prologue, nor events. The next ones are all for CHAPTER 1.

But of course, I know the prologue it's not perfect. I will keep polishing it, changing the fishing/mining/guild board and etc. There's a lot to do yet there. I'll make sure to add more ways to get money and blablabla. In terms of events or girls, it's done.

Some people may think of calling that "The prologue" is too much because of its content. But believe me, that's the introduction. You know the town, you're already part of it, people see you as a "Hero", you know the principal girls (Except a couple of them), and you meet the most important girl, Narissa.

That was enough for you to be introduced to the world! 

From now on, things will be a little bit different. I mean, you're hiding a demon, the principal enemy of a Hero, from your entire guild.

The prologue was meant for you to meet the girls and meet the town, without a clear objective, just roaming around doing stuff while things happen.

You now have a clear objective: find a Crimsom Mage and free Narissa from the potion effects. I wish you luck with that, it will be difficult with all the tasks you have to do now that you are a hero and ... Leticia is around.

Chapter 1 will have 3 parts; Training, The past of a silent girl, and a fight between guilds in a tournament, respectively.

V0.1.3 will have the full Chapter 1 Part 1; Training.

Expect a lot of events for v0.1.3! I want to double the events that are available for the girls. And reach level 20 with most of them, or at least the story ones.

Rebecca was one of the main girls for the prologue, despite she being a "side" girl, she had the same participation as the story girls.
Now it's the turn of Sunny. She, along with another masked girl, will be part of the main story. It's their turn to meet the guild, so, prepare yourself to see them a lot.

After starting Chapter 1, new people will come to the town, and you'll be able to unlock and talk with Yinna, Shikia, Abigail, Brianne, and Helen. But remember I have to do events for the story girls, too. So... Let's start with Shikia. But during the entire chapter 1, I'll make sure to add all the girls that you guys will vote.

I hope to be able to complete full chapter 1 next year, that would be perfect.

Final words

I don't want to spoil that much, or talk a lot about what happened, I know you guys wants to know what's next. That's why I decided to talk a bit about Chapter 1. 

Story is pretty important for HHG, it won't be the same if I were making a only-H game, that's why I'm so excited with this game, or this project in general. And your interest and dedication to HHG makes me very happy, really.

I've seen a lot of theories, long discussions, reviews, feedback and even fan-arts... Something that was surreal for me. Not only that, but 1500 plebs are supporting the game and wants to see it completed, that much people wouldn't fit my room.

I have a lot of plans, a lot of ideas, a lot of projects for HHG, and a lot to tell. So... Let's start with Chapter 1!

But before...

I'll make v0.1.2.1, add the grammar corrections, spanish language, bug-fixes and a complete new launcher for everyone to download the full game and updates automatically from a private server.

I'll probaby have it done for the first days of 2021... if the world doesn't implode in a nuclear war.

Again, thank you so much for everything! I hope this year you continue making fan-arts of your favorite characters, I hope you discuss about the story, I hope you review the game to help me go to the right path, and obviously ... I hope you continue creating theories and being excited to see more after the inevitable cliffhangers.